antivirus software that works? help!

let me be the first to say i know for a fact norton antivirus is crap. ive had it on the 5 computers i had to have replaced because norton was
sleeping on the job. let me also say ad aware is crap. they hav found out adaware can actually have hidden trojans pre installed on it.

besides those two crap softwares.... what do you use for antivirus, popups, etc. on your pc? what do you reccomend? im relying on spybot and
spysweeper to protect me at the moment. help!

There is no effective anti-virus software available to the average consumer.

Anti-virus software is a scam. By the time new patches and virus definition files are released, 20 or 30 new exploits have been discovered and are
making the rounds, including on your computer.

Dont waste your money. Resign yourself that if you are a heavy net user, every so often you are going to have to chuck your old hard drive and do a
fresh install. Either that or hire a sys admin to sit at your system 24/7 with things like Tripwire and so forth and monitor every bit and byte that
moves......

I like Spybot:Search and Destroy. I am not a computer security expert, but I like the way it alerts me if something is trying to access the internet
or change a registry setting or what have you.

If you have Comcast broadband they provide McAfee anti-virus free, if you don't use Comcast perhaps your ISP provides a free program also. I scan my
computer for viruses maybe once a week while I'm sleeping - though I know some people who do it multiple times a day! I also have a physical firewall
in my router, and have never had any problems with viruses with this setup.

Originally posted by Pyros
Anti-virus software is a scam. By the time new patches and virus definition files are released, 20 or 30 new exploits have been discovered and are
making the rounds, including on your computer.

Actually, updates for Antivirus programs & your OS are released before the viruses. Microsoft will put up updates for Windows, then in return these
individuals who create the malicious files notice where there is a whole in peoples windows. Knowing that not everyone will do the proper updates,
they put out these viruses that will affect all those customers who do not update.

If you update your Windows, Antivirus, etc. you are doing yourself a great service in protecting your system.

Sasser & Blaster were probably two of the biggest viruses of all time, they would shut your computer down in 60 seconds, and the patches to prevent
these were available about a week or two before the virus was even on the internet.

Originally posted by Pyros
Dont waste your money.

Ahh we agree at last!

You should save your money because you can protect yourself completely without spending a penny. In my signature you will find a direct link to a
thread that will provide alot of information to protecting your system, prevention of infection and even some indepth instructions for removal of
specific issues.

Originally posted by Pyros
Resign yourself that if you are a heavy net user, every so often you are going to have to chuck your old hard drive and do a fresh install. Either
that or hire a sys admin to sit at your system 24/7 with things like Tripwire and so forth and monitor every bit and byte that moves......

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